United States of Americana by Kurt B. Reighley

Author:Kurt B. Reighley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Makr Carry Goods

Established in late 2007, Florida-based Makr Carry Goods initially made its splash crafting wallets, which still strikes Jason Gregory as funny. “I’ve always hated wallets,” says the man behind Makr. “I don’t like billfolds. They’re too big.”

Although he was fascinated with fine art as a child, Gregory’s original career path was far removed from hand-sewing and leather craft. He started working at a design firm developing brand identities for big restaurant and beverage chains. However, one of the tools of the trade at his disposal was a laser cutter, designed to cut sheet materials into patterns, and that machine sparked his imagination.

“I had this leather bag from my grandfather that was falling apart. One of the pieces was big enough to cut and fold in half and make a little card holder. I just cut that on the laser, and hand-sewed it.” The result was crude but simple, and Gregory loved it. He continued experimenting, and when he had the chance to buy a secondhand laser cutter at a drastically reduced price, he did.

Modern technology had provided Gregory a point of entrance into this age-old handcraft, but now he found himself looking backward too. “I started getting interested in the heritage aspects, how things used to be.” He learned splitting and skiving, hand polishing and sanding, and how to burnish edges—attention to details that would become hallmarks of Makr Carry Goods. Although he originally used modern tools to add graphic designs to some products, once Makr began working with leather supplied by Horween—one of the oldest continually operating tanneries in America—Gregory let the beauty of the leather and finishes speak for them-selves.

“A lot of people call me a craftsman, and I am, but I’m definitely a designer first.” Reconciling old and new techniques, Gregory uses 3-D imaging software to realize his visions, yet can also account for every individual piece and process that goes into making one of his wallets, bags, or camera cases. Nowadays, a local factory assembles larger Makr pieces, such as their satchels, but Gregory remains closely connected with every stage of operations. “I’m not just sending a sketch to a factory, and then having them make a pattern, and me editing it. I’m fully, start to finish, designing the whole piece.”

Gregory believes that the passion and attention to detail given to the pieces imparts them with qualities that transcend design skills. “If you’re edge painting this wallet, and then buffing it, and edge painting it again, and holding it and polishing it, you’re going to care about it.” And that positive energy is transferred to the customer who buys a Makr good. “They’re going to know it was cared for. It wasn’t stamped out, sewn really quick, and thrown in a plastic bag.”

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